'Friends' Star Matthew Perry Reveals Near-Death Experience From Opioid Overuse

Actor Matthew Perry is opening up about his struggle with addiction like never before in his new memoir Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing. The sitcom icon's book hits shelves on Tuesday, Nov. 1, but he gave a sneak peek at some of his new revelations on Wednesday. In an interview with PEOPLE, he described a relapse that nearly cost him his life about four years ago.

"I wanted to share when I was safe from going into the dark side of everything again. I had to wait until I was pretty safely sober – and away from the active disease of alcoholism and addiction – to write it all down," Perry explained. "And the main thing was, I was pretty certain that it would help people."

Fans knew that Perry suffered gastrointestinal perforation a few years ago, but the details of his medical issues were kept under wraps. He now explained that his colon burst as a result of opioid overuse. He said that he was in serious condition for several weeks with no guarantee he would live, including two weeks in a coma, five months in the hospital and nine months using a colostomy bag.

Perry said that when he was first hospitalized for this incident, "the doctors told my family that I had a 2 percent chance to live. I was put on a thing called an ECMO machine, which does all the breathing for your heart and your lungs. And that's called a Hail Mary. No one survives that."

Perry said that he has now had 14 surgeries on his stomach, and hinted that he may require more treatment. He said that, right now, these medical issues are one of his strongest wards against the temptation to use drugs. He said: "That's a lot of reminders to stay sober. All I have to do is look down."

"My therapist said, 'The next time you think about taking Oxycontin, just think about having a colostomy bag for the rest of your life,'" Perry added. "And a little window opened and I crawled through it and I no longer want Oxycontin anymore."

Perry's on-and-off struggle with addiction and alcoholism has been well-known for years. He said that he now believes he already had a drinking problem when he was cast on Friends at the age of 24, but "I could handle it, kind of. But by the time I was 34, I was really entrenched in a lot of trouble. But there were years that I was sober during that time. Season 9 was the year that I was sober the whole way through. And guess which season I got nominated for best actor? I was like, 'That should tell me something.'"

Perry acknowledged candidly that he has relapsed several times, but said that he prefers not to disclose exactly how long he has been sober right now. He said that he has been to rehab 15 times in his life, and that each of those experiences adds to his cumulative knowledge of his own disease and his needs.

"It's important, but if you lose your sobriety, it doesn't mean you lose all that time and education," he said. "Your sober date changes, but that's all that changes. You know everything you knew before, as long as you were able to fight your way back without dying, you learn a lot."

Perry's memoir Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing will be available on Tuesday, Nov. 1. All 10 seasons of Friends are streaming now on HBO Max.